Tag: LRS

2684. M32 Cycle path (48)

Another New Year collaboration, they are coming thick and fast, this time from Decay and Lens. Decay is of course well known to me and to readers of Natural Adventures, but this is a debut piece for Lens, which is perhaps not at all surprising given that he comes from Melbourne, Australia and is just visiting.

Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020

I do like it when artists from different places hook up and paint together, it makes for a terrific sense of community. This Decay half of this combo is everything we would come to expect from the artist and ticks so many boxes… the shapes of the letters, the extravagant fills and the little ‘motion’ highlights in black on the outside of the lettering to give a sense of movement and energy to the whole piece. Perfect.

Lens, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020
Lens, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2020

Using a similar colour palette to Decay’s, Lens has an altogether different letter shape, much more angular with sharp edges and corners. Lens’ fills and decorations are absolutely magnificent, and this is an accomplished piece of graffiti writing. It is so good to see some work from an Australian artist, and it is great to see that Lens has included a little shout out to Rezwonk, who often teams up with Decay, a nice touch.

2505. M32 Cycle path (34)

Here we have yet another outstanding example of fabulous writing from Decay whose pieces have been an absolute highlight in Bristol this year and my goodness, there have been a great many of them – Check some of them out in this gallery.

Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019

In this one Decay has gone for his customary letter shapes, but the fill has a kind of smokey atmospheric feel to it, and the white accents give it a wonderful 3D effect. As always, his little character ‘Chuck’ makes up the letter E in the word DECAY. A lovely piece of writing.

2466. Cheltenham 2019 (5)

How fabulous to see a Decay piece in his old stomping ground of Cheltenham and what a stunner it is too. This writing, that we are all so familiar with has been given the ‘hades’ treatment, looking like the fiery colours of the Earth’s core. Actually it is a bit of a protest piece and has a message: ‘Flames rage while the Amazon burns’

Decay, Paint festival 2019, Chemtenham, September 2019
Decay, Paint festival 2019, Chemtenham, September 2019

I visited the festival twice, once on the Friday and again on the Saturday, but although I missed Decay painting this, I did catch up with him for a short while, and as ever it was a real pleasure. Like so many of his peers, he is so modest about his work which really has hit a new level this year.

2333. Devon Road (12)

I have seen so many recent pieces by Decay, where the one I am looking at feels to me like it is the best one so far. This time, I’m not sure that sequence can continue, because this piece just off Devon Road is close to perfect in my eyes.

Decay, Devon Road, Bristol, July 2019
Decay, Devon Road, Bristol, July 2019

This form of his name is a familiar sight all over Bristol and indeed in Natural Adventures, but this one is of the highest quality in terms of location, colour selection, shading and fills and background. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts and it is just brilliant. There may be people reading this who don’t really ‘get’ graffiti writing, I used to be one myself, but all I can tell you is that this is good, very, very good.

2296. M32 Cycle path (32)

This is an interesting piece by Decay along the M32 cycle path that uses minimal colours to great effect. Looking at his work recently has brought us on a bit of an adventure, crossing over from his abstract work into his writing, while retaining his little character ‘Chuck’ throughout. This piece almost feels like it is a reversion back to the abstract, even though it does spell out DECAY.

Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2019

Decay has been incredibly prolific this year and has also teamed up regularly with other artists including Rezwonk and Nightwayss. It is interesting how artists build up these paint friendships which seem to be more linked to their personalities than their styles (take SPZero76 and Kid Crayon of the Eat crew for example).

Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2019

It would appear that Decay has recently joined the LRS Krew (Last Radical Souls) who seem to be a loosely connected global crew who write the LRS everywhere. Here is his contribution (which is rather classier than many of the others on their Instagram feed) which he painted adjacent to the piece above. Always great work from Decay.

2100. The Bearpit (179)

Consistent… a word I would use to describe the work of Decay, and in that I mean consistently good. Of course, this year has seen Decay changing his designs considerably away from his trademark abstract work to writing, and what writing.

Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2019
Decay, The Bearpit, Bristol, March 2019

This piece is notable for two things: first, it is really neatly done and fits the board perfectly and second, it is something of a rarity in The Bearpit these days and very welcome indeed. A beautifully worked piece with some fabulous attention to detail. Always great to see the instantly recognisable colour palette brightening up the place.